Device for mixing in a hermetically sealed manner substances stored in at least two containers

ABSTRACT

The present invention displays a device capable of mixing one or more substances contained in one or more containers which are interconnected. One embodiment of the present invention is the coupling of the inventive device, containing liquid-concentrated juice or powder to a bottle containing ice-cold mineral water. Upon the coupling of the device to the bottle of mineral water a sealing film is ruptured, releasing the contents comprised in the device to be mixed with the mineral water.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention refers to the transport, storage and mixing ofsubstances. More specifically this invention discloses a device capableof mixing two or more substances hermetically contained in at least twocontainers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Most of the beverages and other products destined to the final consumerat retail points have a high proportion of water in their composition.The low cost of water results in lower prices for these products.Besides that, the weight of water considerably increases thetransportation costs of these substances, especially when displaced atlong distances. Rationalization in transport, reduction of costs andpackaging easiness could make these products more competitive in themarket

Most of the time, these products are packed in bags, cans or glasses andadded in water, milk or any other liquid and then solubilized with amixer. Other granular products such as, for example, cleaning products,have the same problems described for the foods. The invention disclosedherein may be applied to a multitude of substances and to any of theirphysical states: solid, liquid or gaseous.

In this sense, products packaged in small containers, in which theconsumer breaks the seal and adds the liquid for dilution, have becomemore common nowadays. A large number of solutions to this technicalproblem have already been proposed as mentioned below.

PRIOR ART

U.S. Pat. No. 6,367,622 describes a container with separate storagespaces for receiving a first substance and a second substance to bemixed with the first substance by means of a simple sequence of steps.Although the solution proposed in this invention is similar to theinvention disclosed herein, its complexity in construction andmanufacturing makes it costly for an industrial scale application.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,527,110 presents a storage device which is engaged to acontainer, such as a bottle and distributes the substance stored inside.This device includes a housing for storing the substance and a seal thatwill be ruptured by a protruding portion when engaging the container.The rupturing device may be a piston slidably disposed at the end of thehousing. The way that the seal is ruptured differs greatly from thepresent invention, since a pointed cone device is used to break thesealing seal.

Brazilian Patent PI 0314563-8 refers to bottles having two compartments.These bottles can be used in various appliances i.e. industrial,household and even medical appliances where the mixture of substancesneed to be controlled. Despite the similar objectives of this inventionwith the objectives of the invention disclosed herein, the way of therupture seal takes place is quite different, as well as the constitutionof other components.

Despite the large number of solutions to the problem presented andexemplified here according to the above mentioned documents. It can beseen from the reading of the present invention that none of thedocuments contained in the prior art anticipates the solution disclosedherein. The present invention has the advantage of simplicity in theconstitution of its main elements compared to the achieved technicaleffect.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention discloses a device capable of mixing one or moresubstances contained in one or more containers which are interconnected.An embodiment of the present invention is the use of the device in atleast one of the containers capable of mixing the two substancescontained in aforementioned containers.

An example of embodiment of the present invention is the use of thedevice disclosed herein for mixing particulate products which aresoluble in water, such as soft drink powder, soups, cleaning products,milk powder, medicines, teas, etc., using a second container containingwater or any substance to be mixed with the first. Thus, the presentinvention allows, for example, to conveniently dilute soft drink powdercontained in a container equipped with the device disclosed herein. Thesecond container (15) may be a bottle containing chilled mineral waterwhich will be mixed to the soft drink powder contained in the firstcontainer, resulting in a cold drink ready for consumption.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the description of the following figures, it is displayed thepreferred embodiment of the present invention, containing its essentialparts, references, in addition to exposure in various views andsections.

FIG. 1 shows the three main components of the invention: the capsule,the disk-shaped sealing film, and the crown with its appropriatelydesigned blades for cutting the referred sealing film.

FIG. 2 shows the sealing film inside the capsule which is supported onits outermost part on the sealing platform, moreover, this figure showsthe crown inserted inside the capsule in its transport position, thatis, the position before the rupture of the sealing film.

FIG. 3 shows the crown in perspective view of the top and bottom. Inthis figure are shown the blades, the flaps, a groove at the top part,besides the shoulders.

FIG. 4 shows the main components and compartments of the capsule, namelythe compartment for the storage of powder, liquid or any other substancethat is desired to be mixed to the substance of the second compartment(15), the sealing platform, the crown chamber, the fillets and the inletcompartment.

FIG. 5 shows merely illustrative examples of suitable shapes to theamount of substance contained in each capsule.

FIG. 6 shows the vertical and horizontal cuts of the assembly capsule,crown and sealing film at the time prior to the rupture of said film.

FIG. 7 shows the vertical and horizontal sections of the assemblycapsule, crown and sealing film at the time of initial rupture of saidfilm, when the crown blades begin the cutting process of the sealingfilm.

FIG. 8 shows the vertical and horizontal sections of the assemblycapsule, crown and sealing film at the final moment of the rupture ofsaid film, when the crown blades completely ruptured the sealing film,allowing the mixture of the content of the capsule with the content ofthe bottle. The film is not ruptured only in the portion where groove 8is located to ensure that the sealing film does not become loose andmixes with the new formed substance.

FIGS. 9, 10 and 11 show the vertical section of the assembly capsule,crown and sealing film in the breaking process, with the detail of theway in which the crown blade penetrates the sealing film. Furthermore,these figures show the recess (13) which, after the film breakingprocess allows more freedom of movement of the sealing film, thusavoiding obstruction of the passage of the substance contained in thecapsule and in the bottle. If the substance contained in the capsule ispowder, the referred recess prevents clogging at the beginning of themixture between the powder and the liquid contained in the bottle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention discloses a device for hermetically mixingsubstances stored in at least two containers having a disruptionmechanism of specific and different sealing film, capable of mixing twoor more substances contained in containers in a practical and safemanner

The main components of the present invention are the capsule (1), thecrown (3) and the sealing film (2). Said crown (3) is inserted into thecap (1) and is positioned in the housing (11) until the moment ofinsertion of the male nozzle into said cap.

FIG. 1 shows the main components of the invention: the capsule (1), thecrown (3) and the sealing film (2). The capsule (1) disclosed at thepresent invention has fillets (4) in which is screwed a bottle or anyother container (15) compatible with the diameter and the standard ofthe fillets (4) and shoulders (6) of the referred capsule.

The crown has a set of blades (7) which are used for proper disruptionof the sealing film (2). The crown further has a plurality of flaps (5)which are responsible for supporting and sustain the crown within thecapsule (1). The crown is then positioned in the compartment (11) of thecapsule (1) wherein said flaps (5) play an important role in avoidingunwanted vibration of the crown, which can occur during transportationof the capsule (1).

The crown further has a plurality of shoulders (6) which are to becompatible in the positioning, thickness and height of the guides (14)contained in the nozzle of the capsule (1). The shoulders (6) which areinserted inside the guides (14), cause the crown (3) to move in theaxial direction, avoiding its displacement and especially the rotationon its own axis when the bottle is inserted into the capsule (1).

The crown (3) further has a groove (8) positioned at its top whichinterrupts the sequence of blades. The groove (8) is responsible forholding the sealing film (2) attached to a small portion of said filmwhich is not ruptured by the blades (7) due to the space provided by thegroove (8).

In order to give freedom of movement to the sealing film (2) after itsrupture by the blades (7), the crown (3) is further equipped with arecess (13) in its inner part. This recess facilitates the passage ofthe substances between the two compartments, i.e. between the capsule(1) and a bottle, for example.

The capsule (1) is formed by several compartments, the main one is thestorage (9), in which are stored the substances to be mixed with theother compartment, a bottle, for example. This compartment may assume aplurality of sizes, colors and shapes appropriate to the type andquantity of the substance to be stored. The storage compartment (9) mayalso assume a plurality of ornamental shapes suitable for the targetaudience or occasion The storage compartment may assume, for example,animal shapes or characters of children's drawings as the case may be.

The capsule (1) further has a narrow sealing platform (10), which hasthe purpose of properly fastening the sealing film (2). Said fixing mustbe properly held at the outer edge of the sealing film (2) so that it issufficiently secured to the sealing platform (10) not to come off due tothe pressure of the blades (7) during the sealing film breakup process(2). The crown compartment (11) is intended to house the crown duringtransport and exposure at the point of sale of the capsule (1) until thetime of the sealing film disruption (2).

The capsule of the present invention further has fillets which areresponsible for attaching the capsule (1) to the second compartment byrotating said capsule around its own axis. The capsule (1) further hasan inlet compartment, which is sized to match most of the bottle threadson the market.

The process of mixing the substances contained in the capsule (1) andthe other compartment occurs with the introduction of, for example, abottle into the capsule (1). This introduction is given by the inletcompartment (12) which has standard depth for most types of alreadyexisting market threads.

After the introduction of the second compartment, the capsule (1) isthreaded around the axis of its own axis. As the cap is screwed to thecapsule (1) into the crown compartment (3) is being pushed in the axialdirection by the edge of the nozzle of the second compartment towardsthe sealing film (2).

FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 illustrate the dynamics of the rupture of the sealingfilm (2). FIG. 6 shows the moment when the blades (7) touch the sealingfilm (2) without cutting it. As the capsule (1) is screwed into theother compartment, the laminates (7), suitably designed for thispurpose, penetrate the sealing film (2) and the cutting process isstarted, as shown in FIG. 7).

As the capsule (1) is screwed into the second compartment the blades (7)continue to penetrate the sealing film (2) until it is completelydisrupted, as shown in figure-8. In the sequence, the crown (3)encounters the capsule stop (1) terminating the process of rupturing thesealing film (2).

FIGS. 9, 10 and 11 illustrate the process of rupturing the sealing film(2) with the prominence of the blade (7). These blades are designed, asdisclosed in those figures, to produce a suitable cut, reducing frictionbetween the sealing film (2) and the blade (7). A suitable smooth cut isprovided by the blades as shown in detail in FIGS. 9, 10 and 11. Thefigures further show the recess (13), positioned in the inner portion ofthe crown (3), which aims to provide a larger space to accommodate thesealing film (2) after its rupture. The space created by the recess (13)also has the function of avoiding the friction of the sealing film (2)ruptured with the crown walls, preventing clogging thereof, especiallyin the case that the capsule (1) contains any particulate substance.

The small portion of the sealing film (2) which is not ruptured by thegroove (8), ensures the connection of said film to the capsule,preventing it from mixing with the new formed substance.

After complete rupture of the sealing seal the assembly formed of thecapsule (1) with the second compartment can then be shaken so as toprovide a better mixing or dilution of the substances contained in thecontainers.

The present invention may also be composed by a plurality of capsules(1) which can bind to one or more compartments to produce mixtures withone or more substances. The blends may further contain somepredetermined sequence according to the desired application.

The figures disclosed in the present invention are merely a preferredembodiment of this invention and should not be interpreted as limitingthe scope of protection of the present invention. The scope ofprotection of this invention should have the limits set forth in theclaims which will be presented as follows.

1. A device for the hermetically mixing of substances comprising acapsule containing fillets, a storage compartment, a sealing platform, acrown compartment and an inlet compartment, Sealing film wherein itfurther comprises a crown containing a set of blades, a plurality offlaps and shoulders, a groove and a recess.
 2. The device forhermetically mixing substances according to claim 1, whereinalternatively, a plurality of capsules are rotated to one or morecontainers, and there may still be a sequence for coupling the capsules.3. The device for hermetically mixing substances according to claim 1,wherein the crown is positioned in the compartment of the capsule. 4.The device for hermetically mixing substances according to claim 3,wherein the flaps are capable of maintaining the crown fixed in thecompartment.
 5. The device for hermetically mixing substances accordingto claim 1, wherein the crown has a groove capable of holding thesealing film connected to said device.
 6. The device for hermeticallymixing substances according to claim 1, wherein the crown has a recesscapable of giving freedom of movement to the sealing film after its cut.7. (canceled)
 8. (canceled)